the overview - wellsville elementary school

Volume 20, Issue No. 4November 2012

To prepare our students to be successful, contributing membersof their communities, through excellence in education.

126 W. State St., Wellsville, NY 14895 585-596 2170 www.wellsville.wnyric.org

THE OVERVIEWTHE OVERVIEW

126 West State St., Wellsville, NY 14895 -- 585-596-2170 -- www.wellsville.wnyric.org

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The Greater Allegany County Chamber of Commerce and the Allegany County Tourism Committee organized an incredible day of hands on learning at the Civil War Reenactment Day for eighth grade students from across Allegany County. Wellsville Middle School eighth graders are shown here posing with “Abraham Lincoln,” a reenactment volunteer at the Angelica Civil War Reenactment fi eld trip on Friday, September 21.

WMS 8th Graders Learn About Civil WarWMS 8th Graders Learn About Civil War

The Overview 2 November 2012

WCS Mission Statement

"Our mission is to prepare our students to be successful, contribut-ing members of their communities through excellence in education."

New Faculty -- From Page 3

WCS Calendar of EventsOctober 19-20 - HS Fall PlayOctober 22 - Superintendent's Conference Day – NO SCHOOLOctober 28 - NYS Field Band Conference Finals, SyracuseNovember 2 - Elementary School End of Marking PeriodNovember 2-3 - Junior High Area All-State, Genesee ValleyNovember 5 - BOE Meeting, 6:30 p.m., MS/HS CafeteriaNovember 8 - HS Underclassmen & Student ID Photo Retakes, Riverside Lobby November 8 - MS Picture RetakesNovember 9-10 - Senior High Area All-State, Bath-HaverlingNovember 12 - Veterans Day – NO SCHOOLNovember 13-16 - Elem. Parent/Teacher Conferences - Report Cards DistributedNovember 15 - Elementary School Picture RetakesNovember 19 - Parent/Teacher Conference Day – NO SCHOOLNovember 20-23 - Thanksgiving Recess -- NO SCHOOLNovember 26 - BOE Meeting, 6:30 p.m., MS/HS CafeteriaNovember 26 - PTA Meeting, Elementary School Library, 6:30 p.m.December 3 - BOE Meeting, 6:30 p.m., MS/HS CafeteriaDecember 6 - MS Marking Period 2 EndsDecember 10 - MS Report Cards MailedDecember 13 - Elementary School Concert, 7 p.m.December 13 - MS Parent Conference, 3-5:15 p.m. & 6-8 p.m.December 17 - PTA Meeting, Elementary School Library, 6:30 p.m.December 17 - BOE Meeting, 6:30 p.m., MS/HS CafeteriaDecember 18 - Middle School Concert, HS Auditorium, 7 p.m.December 19 - Musical Theater Auditions, HS Auditorium, 6 p.m.December 20 - High School Concert, 7:30 p.m., HS AuditoriumDecember 24 - January 1 - Holiday Recess -- NO SCHOOLJanuary 2 - First Day Back to School

CAROLYN FISHER is the new algebra teacher at the high school. She just graduated from Houghton College. Carolyn is married and currently lives in Franklinville. Her hobbies include dancing (ballet and pointe) and teaching dancing (ballet, jazz, Lyrizal, hip-hop, and fi tness classes, and snowboarding.

6th Graders Take 5thAnnual Mini-Ridgewalk

On Friday, October 12, the Wellsville Middle School sixth grade class participate in the 5th annual Mini-Ridgewalk event. This is an educational fi eld trip sponsored by the WMS and the Ridgewalk & Run Com-mittee. Students participated in a Kick-Off Assembly with Ridgewalk and Run founder Mr. Rich Shear and Ridgewalk Committee Chairperson Carrie Whitwood, prior to head-ing out to the trailhead on Alma Hill where they were led on a 1.5 mile hike. Along the trail, students encountered education sta-tions (see photo at left) where they heard from a variety of local experts in the fi elds of geology, oil production, local history and the environment. It was a beautiful day for our students to experience our local environment and geography while enjoying outdoor fi tness.

Ridgewalk Committee Member Pat Childs explains what oil is made of and why it can be found in Allegany County.


IN PHOTOS ABOVE - Middle and high school students -- including eighth graders Julia Knapp, Melissa Graham and David Lawson, ninth grader Cooper Buckley, tenth grader Sarah Murphy and eleventh grader Drew Burt -- were invited to participate in the production of a commercial with WIVB Meteorologist Don Paul to promote this year’s Ridge Walk event.

The individuals listed act as report-ers for their respective buildings or departments.

Elementary SchoolDean Giopulos, Ann White

Middle SchoolMary Ellen O'Connell, Kasey Riley

High SchoolMary VanEtten, Cindy Chapman

Additional StaffDawn Youmans, District Offi ce

Lenore Braunscheidel, H. S. Guidance Offi ceDennis Miles, Athletic SchedulesKasi Washburn, Special Services

To submit information or offer con-structive suggestions for improvement, please contact the reporter for your building or department. Remember, these "reporters" can't report what they don't know -- so please keep them informed!


WIVB-TV's Don PaulWIVB-TV's Don PaulVisits for RidgewalkVisits for Ridgewalk


Guidance News

Important Calendar Dates

November 2 - Registration deadline for 12/8/12 ACT College Entrance ExamNovember 3 - SAT College Entrance Exam begins at 7:45 a.m. Please bring

your registration ticket, #2 pencils, a calculator, and proper identifi cation. No Ticket, No ID, No Admission!

November 8 - WHS Underclass Student ID photo retakes, Riverside LobbyNovember 9 - Marking Period 1 report cards mailed homeNovember 12 - VETERANS DAY – NO SCHOOLNovember 15 - High School Parent/Teacher Conferences,

3-5:15 and 6-8 p.m.November 16 - Late registration deadline for 12/8/12

ACT ExamNovember 19-23 - THANKSGIVING RECESS – NO

SCHOOL - The Guidance Offi ce will also be closed dur-ing the recess.

Attention Juniors and Seniors

The following colleges and universities will have representatives visit WHS:November 2 - SUNY Cortland & Genesee Community College at 12:30 p.m.November 5 - Alfred State College at 11:45 a.m.November 8 - St. Bonaventure University at 9:30 a.m.November 13 - SUNY Potsdam at 10:45 a.m.

WMS sixth graders are shown at the 5th annual Mini-Ridgewalk event.

Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) Update

In May 2011, the NYS Board of Re-gents adopted regulations that would drive how school districts evaluate teacher and principal performance. The new regulations are a part of the Race to the Top (Rtt T) grant that New York was awarded through the federal government.

School districts were required by law to develop a comprehensive evaluation system for all classroom teachers and principals. These evaluations are expected to play a signifi cant role in a wide array of employ-ment decisions, including promotion, reten-tion, tenure determinations, termination, and will be a signifi cant factor in teacher and principal professional development. This new evaluation system is also intended to help educators improve their craft by focus-ing professional development and coaching on their specific needs and recognizing outstanding teaching. It will help ensure that we have an effective teacher in every classroom and an effective leader in every school. The website www.engageny.org has detailed information on all aspects of RttT.

The evaluation system is based on 100 points as follows: 20 points – growth on state assessments or comparable measure, 20 points – locally selected measure of student achievement, and 60 points – other measures of teacher/principal effectiveness.

For the fi rst 20 points, teachers will be assessed on their students’ growth through NYS assessments or Student Learning Ob-jectives (SLOs). Please see Mr. Roethel’s article in this edition for more information on SLOs. For the local 20 points, we have will be using reading and math scores from a locally selected assessment for grades K-8. For grades 9-12, we will use a combination of Regents assessment results and SLO data. For the 60 pts, we have selected Danielson’s Framework for Teaching (2011) for the teacher rubric and Marzano’s School Ad-ministrator Rubric for the principals’. You can fi nd these rubrics at the following web address: http://usny.nysed.gov/rttt/teachers-leaders/practicerubrics/

Our APPR plan was approved by the Wellsville Board of Education on 10.23.12. It was submitted to the NYS Education Department on 10.24.12.


“Good Citizen” Announced by DAR

will be produced monthly as a service to district residents, taxpayers, students, parents, and employees. Staff mem-bers and others can submit informa-tion on signifi cant events via e-mail to the designated reporter for their building by the following deadline(s):December 2012 November 12


WHS Principal Mary VanEtten has announced that Emily Gilfert (at left) has been chosen by the school administration as the Daughters of the American Revolution “Good Citizen” to represent Wellsville High School for 2012-2013.

Emily exemplifi es the qualities of de-pendability, honesty, cooperation, courtesy, leadership ability, self-control, personality and unselfi sh interest in family, school com-munity and country required for the DAR “Good Citizen” Award. She is a two-year member of the Wellsville Chapter of the

National Honor Society, serving as President this year. She is also an active member of Student Council, LEOS Club, SADD, Scholastic Challenge, the Ushers’ Club, and Peer Tutoring. Emily has also been a vital member of the WHS Girls Tennis Program.

Emily is an independent thinker who understands the value of both academics and extra-curricular activities in the de-velopment of a well-rounded student. She is indeed a “good citizen” both within her Wellsville High School community and out in the larger “real world” community.

About Student Learning Objectives – SLO’s

As part of the State’s Regents Reform Agenda and response to the Rac e to the Top (RttT) grant, teachers and principals are now evaluated on a 100 point APPR system. Twenty of those points are based on measures-of-growth based on either state assessments or other comparable assessment measures. Under State Ed guidelines, teach-ers who have students in grades 4-8 and take the ELA and/or Math State assessments will receive their portion of these twenty points directly from the State. Their score is based on all of their students’ Student Growth Percentile (SGP) scores. A Student Growth Percentile describes the current achievement of a student relative to other students who have, in the past, “walked the same achieve-ment path.” SGPs are calculated from a central State Ed database.

The remaining teachers who are not directly tied to the above named grades 4-8 assessments are not provided with a State growth score and therefore require compa-rable measures using a district-wide growth

setting process cal led Student Learning Objec-t i v e s ( S L O s ) . Teachers are in-volved in creating their own SLOs and the district is responsible for providing guid-ance on the SLO process, assess-ments and approv-ing them. These teachers receive their measures-of-growth score from the district based on how well their students demonstrate growth as defi ned by the SLO.

A Student Learning Objective is an academic goal set by the teacher for all students at the start of a course. To set an academic goal, teachers use multiple data sources to review and analyze past student assessment data and trends. Teachers also use pre-assessment data to set individual student growth targets for the year end as-sessments. The combination of this data review and analysis also guides teachers towards alignment of instruction to Com-mon Core, State, or national standards and school priorities.

What are Student Learning Objectives (SLOs)? SLOs represent the most important learning for the course. They help to defi ne what is priority at each level: district, build-

ing and classroom. SLOs demand a new level of clarity about what the essential learning is for all students. By collecting and recording data and evidence, SLOs offer an opportunity to document the impact that all educators make on students. In order to document and focus teacher impact, SLOs are designed to be specifi c and measureable. Setting goals for student learning empha-sizes outcomes, rather than inputs. SLOs focus attention on data and outcomes. They are long-term, measurable academic goals based on as much available prior student learning data as possible. SLOs are aligned to standards (CCSS, State, or national) and district and school priorities.

You can fi nd additional information on Student Learning Objectives at the following web address: engageNY.org.


Wellsville Central Schools126 West State StreetWellsville, NY 14895

BOARD OF EDUCATIONAl Mosher, PresidentClinton Gilkey, Vice PresidentCarol EnglishGary GoetschiusMark HallRex OlsonDaniel MartelleSteven PettenatiJody TorreyDawn Youmans, District Clerk

CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIONKimberly Mueller, Superintendent of SchoolsDavid Foster, Director of Finance and OperationsDean Giopulos, Elementary School PrincipalMary Ellen O'Connell, Middle School PrincipalMary VanEtten, High School PrincipalJeffrey White, Middle School/High School Assistant PrincipalKaren Cunico, Elementary School Assistant PrincipalEmory Roethel, Coordinator of Curriculum and InstructionKasi Washburn, Coordinator of Special Education and Student Services

Sixth Grade Takes Field TripsSixth Grade Takes Field Trips

The sixth grade has had two fi eld trips. We investigated aquatic life at the Rigas pond and we took a nature walk along Alma Hill as part of our mini Ridgewalk experience. We would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Rigas for their hospitality and the organizers of the Ridgewalk for these two special experiences. Mini-Ridgewalk fi eld trip pictures inside on pages 2 and 4.

the overview - wellsville elementary school

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